Guest appearance: Jaques Staunton, entered number 1291, 1850-51

A rather delightful very early Jaques Staunton set, which was sold just a 20 minute drive away at my local auction house.  Sadly this set was always going to be beyond my budget, but the eventual buyer turned out to be a very good collector friend - and I was more than happy to pick it up on his behalf.  Whilst it will only have a temporary residence within my physical cabinet,  I hope it will remain as a permament guest slot in my virtual cabinet!

During the set's brief sojourn with me, I took the opportunity to take some side by side comparison photographs with my numbered set, 1404.  Though separated by only 113 sets, the Staunton style was patently developing very quickly, with clear differences in the knights (though maintaining the same carver's style and DNA), the pawns (more delicate in the older set), and with subtle variations in the bishops (much finer knops in the older set) and kings' heads.

There was discussion before the sale as to whether all the pawns were original to the set - from my closer inspection, my opinion is that they are all indeed original, though with some minor turning differences (perhaps not surprising given the aforementioned rapid style development over this period).  All the felts match and look original - further backed up by what I believe to be the very last remnants of the bottom edge of one of the original Victorian registration lozenges, hanging on by the skin of its teeth.

All in all, it's a privilege to temporarily house this fine set in my collection!